Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To make ashamed or uneasy; disconcert. synonym: embarrass.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To confuse or confound, as by suddenly exciting a consciousness of guilt, error, inferiority, etc.; destroy the self-possession of; make ashamed or dispirited; put to confusion.
  • To stand or be confounded; lose self-possession.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To destroy the self-possession of; to confuse or confound, as by exciting suddenly a consciousness of guilt, mistake, or inferiority; to put to shame; to disconcert; to discomfit.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English abaishen, to lose one's composure, from Old French esbahir, esbahiss- : es-, intensive pref. (from Latin ex-; see ex–) + baer, to gape; see bay.]

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